Private Payrolls Increased by 213,000 in September
Companies hired 213,000 workers in September as the labor market continued to strengthen, a private report based on payrolls showed.
The gains in employment last month followed a revised 202,000 increase in August, according to the ADP Research Institute in Roseland, New Jersey. The median forecast of 41 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a September advance of 205,000.
Stronger demand for goods and services is prompting companies to hold the line on firings and expand headcount. Continued progress in the labor market will be needed to boost aggregate income and drive consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70% of the economy.
“There’s more overall income being earned because there are more people working, and that helps propel consumer spending upward,” said Robert Stein, deputy chief economist at First Trust Portfolios. “When jobs are growing around 200,000 a month, you have more earners out there.”
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from payroll gains of 160,000 to 255,000. August’s figure was revised from a previously reported 204,000.
Goods-producing industries, which include manufacturers and construction companies, increased headcount by 58,000 in September, according to the report. Construction employment rose by 20,000 and factory payrolls climbed 35,000, the report showed. Payrolls at service providers increased by 155,000.
Companies employing 500 or more workers added 77,000 jobs. Employment at businesses with 50 to 499 employees increased 48,000 and the smallest companies boosted payrolls by 88,000, the report showed.
“Job gains remain strong and steady,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., said in a statement. Moody’s produces the figures with ADP. “Especially encouraging most recently is the increasingly broad-based nature of those gains.”
The ADP report is based on data from businesses with more than 21 million workers on their combined payrolls.
Staffing firm Adecco Group North America said it’s trying to fill more than 12,000 jobs in the customer service and fulfilment fields for a U.S.-based client, with full-time, part-time and work-from-home positions available.
The seasonal jobs have the potential to become permanent positions, the company said in a statement. Hiring is currently taking place in cities in Georgia, Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky and Virginia.
